Lanzarote Trip

Well what a trip this turned out to be. Sun, sea and not quite sand, more like bike. After just over a week of riding on the turbo avoiding the snow outside it was finally time to escape from the cold conditions of the UK and get some sun in Lanzarote. Not quite a holiday but all in all a very productive trip. After the snow this hard training block is just what I needed.

Some hard training miles were put in throughout the week I was there putting me in good stead for the season opener in Het Volk. The fast group was quite that, fast! Although saying that it seemed to have done me good and the form now seems to be coming along nicely. The best day has to be when we completed 170Km in 6hrs. Riding every hill (mountain!) on the island, riding to the north and then back to the south, was very satisfying when it had been completed. The return leg was not fun, solid head wind, but the thing is I enjoyed it.

The most satisfying thing about the whole trip though was seeing how much, I hope, my climbing has improved. Riding with semi-pros and being 5th overal the top of mountains was pleasing. I enjoyed the climbs, sometimes, although it did mean that I had to come down the other side of the bugger. I also was pleased with the way that the time trial meant. My legs were screaming at me stop from the second that I set of, but I was determined as ever to beat the men. This I managed to do, all but one, but he is a very good rider.

The weather was good, albeit windy but the tan lines are now as strong as ever!! The wind on the long ride was so strong it made going up the hills easy and coming back down the other side hard! People weighing more than me, which isn’t hard, were complaining about the wind. They were supposedly worried about me but that didn’t stop them abandoning me half way down the descent. No rain or snow and temperatures getting around 24c so I can’t complain.

The hardest part of the whole trip didn’t even involve me getting onto a bike. Why do airports make it so hard to check your bike onto a plane?! It’s like a merry go round starting off at the check in desk, moving onto the police security check, before I can eventually get rid of my bike at a completely different check in desk!

The flight home was good but I now seem to be suffering from the peeling affects, I feel like a human snowman!